Stargate Universal Sin Episode 7
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: A bold plan, and certain expedition members choose where their loyalty lies. Ronon and Daniel are forced to bond while Atlantis fends off a strange siege. A rising hope is shattered, and all that's left is picking up the pieces... and a bold new plan.
1. Chapter 1

**Episode 7 – Median**

_A/N: If you go to Gateworld's Fanfic folder, you'll find a thread for this series, i'll be adding pictures for each episode from now on to give a visual aspect as well as the reading._

_Remember, each Episode is a standalone story! If you want to get updated on new episodes then join the C2 via my author link. Or you could Author Alert :P I never get tired of those :P_

_Thanks go out to all who read... and a big thanks to in depth reviewers, you guys TOTALLY ROCK!_

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The Czech scientist had settled into his new role well, with Dr Esposito's help along with a few other scientifically minded people who'd decided to stay, he'd been able to keep a few blood pressure points south of an aneurysm.

Of course, Colonel Sheppard entering the room while he was trying to explain to Mila why his tablet had a pigeon on it was not anymore conducive to his sanity. He instantly launched into the conversation they'd been having a few moments ago before the Colonel got up made sure the perimeter was clear. "I'm not even sure if we can make it work, Colonel…"

John limped over to where Radek and Mila were seated, the healing wound in his side impeded his full range of motion, but he'd stopped taking Narcotic painkillers. It had absolutely nothing to do with Dr Kelelr refusing to give him more... at least he told himself that. The little Traveler engineer pulled out a chair and smiled at him sardonically. "Come on Raddy, it's not like it's going to just blow up. Don't worry about it."

Giving her a frustrated expression, Radek groaned at her terminology. "Yes! That's _exactly_ what might happen! We're talking about several thousand yottawatts worth of power! The energy requirements are in line with some small stars!"

John didn't want to get between this argument, he noticed right away that despite some disagreements, the two scientifically minded people actually respected each other, an 'odd' couple indeed. "Look, I'm hoping we'll never have to actually use it, but the fact of the matter is if we can get back to the Milky Way with no way for the Asurans or Wraith to track us… we can take everyone including all the Traveler ships back without them even knowing what happened."

Mila smiled, and narrowed her eyes. "Soo… I'll get to see your home planet?"

With a nod, John chuckled at her brightening up. He didn't want to ruin the chance for her with being despondent over the possibility so he chose his words carefully. "With any luck, we'll be eating cotton candy in a few months… _right Doctor?"_

Seeing that Sheppard was adamant about trying to work this technology out, Radek acquiesced. "Uhh… yes… it is _possible._"

Now smiling, John got up and motioned to Mila. "Come on Milly, it's almost lunch time and I promised Larrin I'd make sure you ate more than peanut butter." He looked back to Radek as the Traveler girl got up and walked. "Hey… don't tell anyone you're working on this okay? Last thing we need is panic."

Radek nodded and groaned softly, the math required for this was turning his brain into a piece of clay, but it seemed the only logical way… Maybe the Colonel was right and this would save them all.

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"We have begun our deliberations Colonel, I cannot say anything for a fact, but with the addition of the Travelers and their technology, as well as the scans of what is left of the Asuran home solar system, the Jaffa are being a little more lenient in their thinking."

It was over a month ago now, and the possibilities that it raised were tremendous. Perhaps the Wraith had launched a first strike and succeeded, or some calamitous catastrophe happened at exactly the right moment. But whatever had happened, it had been perfect.

Not to say the Asurans weren't still a threat, with 24 Aurora Battleships still roaming in wolfpacks, the threat to what was left of the Galaxy was still very real. It wouldn't be hard to imagine them colonizing another world.

At the moment though, Sam wanted to grab Woolsey by his collar and give him shaken politician syndrome. "You'll forgive me if I'm more worried about our own representatives."

From behind Sam, the sounds of an Archeologist repressing his smile made Sam glad she no longer cared about the IOA. Woolsey for that matter seemed somewhat offended. "I take exception to that Colonel… I understand where you're coming from… but my colleagues may not. At the moment we are reviewing Dr Jackson's report with the utmost scrutiny, and we will need him back on Earth to help with the negotiations."

Sam's smile instantly faded, and she turned to Daniel. Seeing his face, the dull acceptance that yes, he did have to go made Sam just a little sadder than she was expecting to be. "Very well… We'll send Doctor Jackson along to Midway with Ronon for his debriefing."

Woolsey seemed a little more pleased, and he straightened his suit. "Yes… Area 51 is looking forward to Doctor Jackson's translation of certain Ancient devices, and I for one look forward to discussing Ronon's status with the expedition."

The threat was unsaid, but the implication was all Sam needed. "I'm disappointed with your priorities Mr. Woolsey. Daniel will be heading back tomorrow evening, good day."

Without giving the man a chance to reply, Sam shut the link off and in the distance, the wormhole snapped shut, Daniel sighed and muttered softly. "I knew it was too good to be true."

Sam turned, and groaned softly at having to say goodbye to her long time friend again.

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As a Wraith, the hierarchy comes down to who wields the most power, the most power comes from who can strike enough fear into the hearts of those around him. Queens were different, but for the most part, to be a leader of the male genus was a true honor. The Commander at the head of the Alliance was one such leader… very old, very wise, and up until recently, too patient for the liking of many younger Wraith.

The urge to feed lessened with time it was said, and more patience was learned as well as knowledge and creativity. This Wraith wasn't so sure though.

It wasn't the main Wraith Commander's idea to do this, to strike using the very lifeline the Earth Born cattle used. To show them that no matter what technology or ingenuity they had, it could always be used against them. "Begin work on the ring… and message our other hive to begin the triangulation..."

At least with the support of the Wraith leader, the Atlanteans would know that the Wraith would not abide their aggravations any longer… and with any luck perhaps soon there would be a new feeding frenzy.

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"Larrin… where you going?"

John hadn't expected to see Larrin walking towards the piers. Most of their people had settled into their quarters in Atlantis now and the once empty city was now bustling with life. The few scientists that remained in Atlantis's now 120 Earth Born humans had taken to teaching the Travelers of crystal technology and learning how the Travelers had reached the point where they could create hyperdrive technology with wires and computer chips.

So now seeing her head to the docked and empty ships, John wondered what she wanted. "Hey! Larrin!"

Running with a noticeable limp, Larrin decided to spare him anymore pain as the movements obviously still hurt the recently wounded Colonel. "Sheppard… wasn't expecting to find you here."

John groaned softly as he came to a halt in front of Larrin. "Came down here to get some fresh air… piers are closer to the water… what are _you_ doing here?"

Larrin shrugged around innocently. "Oh I uhh.. I came to get some things from the ship…"

It was easy to tell she was lying. John knew Larrin was a great liar and to see her fuddle this up meant something big was going down. "Really? Well I'll come with… it's been awhile since I've seen inside your ships… always liked fixer uppers."

Stifling her groan, Larrin smiled awkwardly and stood in his way. "Oh that's okay Sheppard… I know you wanna spend all the time you can with me but umm…" She switched to her flirty devious grin. "I don't think you're really in the right condition for that kind of fun right now…"

Now convinced she was hiding something, John decided to give back some of what he'd been getting. "Oh I dunno… I'm so used to you playing rough… I figure this shouldn't be any different."

It was flirty, it was kinky, and John couldn't help but feel he'd just walked into a win win situation. Either he'd finally see where he stood with Larrin, or he'd find out what secret thing she was doing. The Traveler woman obviously wasn't expecting such a forward reply from the cautious Colonel, and stammered a bit. "Oh uhh.. well uhh… I-I-I…"

Tired of her stalling, John sighed and shook his head. "Yeah that's what I thought. Now come on… just tell me what you're doing and we can go for a walk."

Letting out a loud sigh of resignation, Larrin turned away from him and pouted. "…I'm checking our ships to see how repairs are coming…"

"Uhh… okay… I don't see why you couldn't tell me that before… unless you're doing it for a reason I won't like…" Larrin remained silent, and John began to extrapolate. "… You've already got scout ships out there looking for supplies and patrolling… so the only reason you'd want to see if these are spaceworthy…" It finally hit him, and John lowered his voice. "… is if you want to leave."

Again, Larrin didn't reply, she only stood there facing away from John. For the first time John had actually managed to shut the Traveler woman up and he regretted it instantly.

After a few moments, finally Larrin turned her head and spoke softly. "I'm a realist Sheppard… can the city really hold up against the replicators even with our generators powering the shields?"

Seeing that the woman was no longer playing him, John was equally honest. "Probably not."

"Then you_ know_ why I'm doing this."

"Yeah…" John really did understand, and he decided to now confide in the woman before him. "…look… if it comes down to it… I'm not leaving you behind."

Larrin scoffed, and turned away. "Oh _now_ you choose to be romantic? Well forget it, I'm not leaving my people to go and get _reamed_ by you and your IOA."

Getting a rather interesting mental picture, John took a second to reply to the unintended innuendo. "Uhh…. That's _not_ what I meant Larrin… I'm not _going_ back… not unless we can take your people too."

Now Larrin turned completely around, surprised that John would say such a thing. "What? You… you'd stay?" A simple nod was all John could reply with. Larrin was quite floored with the realization. "…you'd really abandon your people?"

John's voice became steel. "Save one or two of 'em… they've abandoned _me_. So yeah, if worse comes to worst and we have to leave the city… I'm going with you."

Larrin was _very_ surprised to be hearing this from him. "… you really _are_ something else you know? I wouldn't have expected you to understand."

"Yeah well… I know where I belong… and if it can't be here, it's definitely not back there."

A smile came to Larrin's mouth, she was still very surprised that it had turned out this way. She felt so ecstatic that John trusted her with such a thing that she just had to do something. So she leaned forward and took him in a big hug. "_Aw_ come here ya big…"

Groaning from both the cute attack as well as the pain in his still healing abdomen, John replied how he could with a hug back "Yeah yeah…" it was the first time they'd actually gotten this close for anything but professional reasons. John didn't count his little sloppy kiss with her on their Aurora after fighting off the Wraith as he'd ended up unconscious on the floor _again_, but John had to admit, the woman did feel great pressed up against him. "Now look… I haven't told anyone else…"

Giggling, Larrin shoved him gently away. "Oh don't worry Sheppard. I won't tell anyone you're so infatuated with me you're gonna leave everything you know." She smiled as John made a face. "You still wanna go for a walk?"

John thought about it for a second, he _did_ just basically tell Larrin he wanted to… well… as much as John might _enjoy_ it, in his present state he would more likely be screaming in agony rather than pleasure. "Long as it's just a walk, I can't even lace my boots up without going 'ow.'"

Larrin rolled her eyes and took him by the arm. "Figures… as soon as you actually come close you back off, we're never gonna hook up if you keep this up."

John had been doing a lot of groaning recently from his injury and the unintended pain from people hugging him. But right now, the groan was purely from the unrelenting flirtatious behavior from this violent and yet oh-so-attractive woman.

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Daniel and Teyla were quite possibly the best negotiators the SGC and IOA had when dealing with alien cultures. So for what was happening now to be happening meant that it was deadly serious. "Just calm down! Calm down!"

The two offending groups were doing nothing of the sort. "Who are you to dictate our lives!?"

Teyla moved forward as well despite Daniel trying to keep her back. "The people who have saved your lives! All we ask is no violence!"

Said Violence erupted when one refugee had attempted to steal the rations of another, escalating verbal violence became bitter animosity, and soon both men's villages were ready to begin the Pegasus version of a bar brawl in the hallway. "Saved us!? We're trapped and dependent on you for everything! I would have rather died than be your slave!"

The crowd was getting wilder, and random objects began to fly around as people tossed them in defiance, but before a full melee could break out, a Traveler Particle Magnum shot above their heads and quickly caused a disorderly scattering.

Daniel looked over and saw Ronon with a quartet of soldiers, both Marine and Air Force personnel all armed with the Traveler Weapons and stunners. "_Listen up!_" Ronon's voice was overpowering and so threatening that _every one_ of the 40 or so rioters were cowed. "Every single one of you owes you_ lives_ to these people! You'd all be dead or fed on if they hadn't taken you in!" Ronon moved forward, his personal strike team moving behind him covering his six.

Teyla caught on and held her hands up. "Listen to him! I am not of the Atlanteans… I can assure you that they will do everything they can to ensure your safety… they will _not_ abuse you! They will _not_ take advantage of you!"

The crowd seemed somewhat allayed, but it wasn't clear whether they were just scared of Ronon in his leather body armor and the mean looking marines and air force personnel behind him. Ronon took the moment and growled loudly. "Go to your assigned areas! And don't let me catch you doing this again!"

The crowd obeyed, and the two groups slowly took off in opposite directions. Daniel and Teyla moved over to the team and joined them. "Thanks Ronon…" Daniel nodded to Ronon with a grateful smirk. "… we got caught between them and well… guess Sam's right that we should all be armed."

Ronon stared back without a word, and silently handed him a stunner.

Accepting it with a little hesitation, Daniel strapped it to his belt and looked to Teyla. Teyla seemed a little annoyed with the outcome and looked to Ronon. "You would not have stunned them would you?"

Still not replying, Ronon simply looked to his team and motioned with his head. "Come on… lets make sure they don't try round 2."

Both Teyla and Daniel moved to let them pass, and Daniel kept his voice low. "Ooo-kay. He's more pissed off than usual."

Teyla rolled her eyes and pulled on Daniel's sleeve. "Let's go, he is simply angry because of his coming trip to Earth. We still need to ensure each refugee has been scanned for…"

Stopping her, Daniel tugged back and pulled her in front of him. "Teyla… I'm going too."

Off at the end of the hallway, Sam was nearing cautiously as she had heard something that had sounded suspiciously like a gunshot. She stealthy moved forward and peeked around the corner. The last thing she expected was to see Daniel and Teyla chatting barely within earshot.

"_When do you believe you will return Daniel?"_

Sam watched from a distance, it was certainly surprising to see Teyla standing so close to Daniel… much closer than she'd seen them before. She could barely hear them from this distance. _"Ohh not too long, certainly I'll be back before the little guy kicks his way out."_

Teyla laughed softly and gave Daniel a little smack on the arm; _that_ got Sam's attention. It might be wrong to eavesdrop on them from behind the corner of the hallway, but suddenly Sam wondered what was going on with her old friend. "_I am glad to hear that… he would do much to learn from those such as you."_

"_I'd be glad to teach him… with any luck I'll get a permanent posting here in Pegasus so you'll be seeing a lot more of me soon."_

"_I would like that… it has been so hectic with the refugees that I have enjoyed our talks."_

Sam couldn't believe her ears. Were they… _flirting?!_

"_Yeah… it's been a nice change to actually get out of the lab and do something to help… I'd forgotten what that was like."_

"_You do not forget something like that easily Daniel… I am glad we have worked together these last three weeks."_

Now more confused then ever, Sam decided to stop being so nosy and make her presence known. She walked up as if she hadn't heard a thing and smiled to them both. "Hey! Great I was looking for the two of you. Lucky me, find you both at the same place."

A moment of awkward tension erupted, almost as it she'd interrupted an intimate moment, which on retrospect she probably did. Daniel did his best to recover as he and Teyla moved apart from each other. "So uhh… Sam, What's up?"

Teyla seemed to fumble a bit and tried to keep her composure. "Yes Colonel, what is it that you require?"

Realizing that she had acted before thinking, Sam quickly spat out the first thing that came to her mind… which unfortunately was a strange mix of the truth, and what she was actually doing at the moment. "Oh uhh… well I was going to meet up with John and discuss out situation since the IOA is having their debate and uhh… since the refugees have been giving us some security problems recently… I was hoping we could come to some kind of better conclusion between the four of us that umm… would solve that problem… quickly."

Both Teyla and Daniel blinked in reply to Sam's incredibly long and probably untrue statement. Neither was willing to call her out on it as they now suspected that Sam had some ulterior motive. Teyla shook the confusion from her face, "Uhh sure… where were you meeting John?"

Now caught, Sam hid her wince as she realized that John was probably waiting by now with her lunch and Mila who saw him as something of an uncle. Then again she'd taken well with most of the adults including Radek who was getting more and more used to her being around.

The fact that Sam herself was encouraging Mila to learn all she could and even had little talks probably exacerbated that as well. "Uhh the mess hall, my office can get so stuffy and the conference room seems so…" Unwilling to say _impersonal, _Sam now had nothing in her dictionary to describe as she was trying to think of escape.

Deciding to try and help his friend, Daniel suggested. "…official?"

Sam latched on and nodded quickly. "Yes! Yes and I'm trying to keep things more… "

At another loss for words, Teyla offered her input. "…Relaxed?"

Again, Sam latched on and was thankful she might be getting out of such a weird situation soon. "So yeah… uhh if you two could join us there… soon?"

Both Daniel and Teyla nodded, though Daniel spoke first. "Oh uhh… I'll walk with you… I'm leaving later today anyway and I've got a whole day to wait on Midway so…"

Teyla flustered a bit as well but kept her composure. "I shall join you soon… I must… finish with…" She mumbled the last bit as she turned and walked away, Sam couldn't tell whether Teyla had purposefully mumbled so that she couldn't hear her, or whether it was an honest mistake. It didn't matter though as Sam wanted to get away from such an awkward moment.

They'd just left the hallway and headed for the transporter when Sam turned to look at Daniel, he was _sooo_ adorable with his blushing cheeks. "So… I see you've gotten pretty friendly with Teyla. I'm not surprised you know, you two are very alike in a lot of ways."

Daniel shrugged nonchalantly, or at least he tried to make it _look_ nonchalant. "Yes well… I've been helping with the refugees since I've got so much experience dealing with foreign cultures. I've already gotten enough translations done to keep the IOA happy… we talk about a lot of similar things…"

Seeing that Daniel was trying to justify his obvious friendship with the Athosian, Sam started to chuckle. "Daniel, you're babbling again."

Giving her a desperate face, Daniel implored. "Was I?"

Sam laughed mercilessly; she knew Daniel wouldn't be offended. "Oh yeah… but it's okay… I'm glad you two are getting along so well… I haven't seen her smile like that in months."

"Yeah… well the last time I saw her she wasn't nearly this distraught. She's a fighter and helping the refugees is holding her together, but…"

It was a strange thing to think, and Daniel wondered exactly what he was feeling. Teyla seemed like such a respectable and intelligent woman. Certainly she'd captivated his imagination when he first met her a few years ago. In many ways she reminded him of Sarah Gardner… a woman of soft and kind intellect, almost a sagely way about her even though neither was really old.

But there was _fire_ in Teyla, a sheer passion that showed in everything she did. Daniel couldn't help but feel attracted to her on just about every level…

That left only one snag… she was having a child. But Daniel was finding he didn't really care all that much… He'd already known the pain of losing a beloved, and even more the sorrow of children who never really knew their parents. Perhaps the scar of his own life's grief and dealing with it gave him insight into Teyla's situation.

Sam seemed to see it as well, since she smiled and put an arm around Daniel. "Yeah… I guess I couldn't see it till it was right in my face…" She chuckled softly and shook Daniel softly as they walked. "Hey… I'm glad you came. And I expect you back as soon as possible."

A few laughs, and Daniel decided to give a little back in this one sided awkwardness. "Speaking of couldn't see it coming… you've been spending a lot of time with Colonel Sheppard recently…"

Sam had been expecting this from Daniel, after so many years, he'd become very close to her and could read her like a book when needed. Sam had spent quite a little while thinking of how she could explain this. "Yes well… he _is_ my second in command… he's spent a lot more time here and I use his experience… and he's a damn good chess player."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Nodding, Sam felt she'd deflected any suggestion on her side of the conversation. "Actually yeah, jackass beat me first time we played."

Laughing at her wording, Daniel waved her into the transporter. "Oh? What, did you just expect him to lose on purpose?"

Grumbling, Sam smirked. "_Yes_! Everyone else has!" She tossed a playful smirk back to Daniel, who tittered on the edge for a few moments before bursting out laughing.

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Ronon slung on his leather jacket and cracked his knuckles, granted this wasn't the first time he'd been to Earth, but certainly it didn't feel right.

A sound from behind, and he could tell already who it was from the gentle step and almost hesitant breathing. "Jennifer."

The young doctor stepped forward, now used to Ronon being able to detect her presence. "Hey…"

Ronon finished attaching his leather combat vest. Jennifer couldn't help but think it looked quite similar to the something she'd see in a warcraft game or something. It confused her momentarily, but she quickly pushed it aside and got to the matter she'd come here to talk about. "I uhh… I hear you're going to Earth."

"Yeah…" Ronon's answer was concise and to the point.

Jennifer for that matter didn't know exactly what it is she wanted to say. "…to meet with the IOA?"

"Yeah."

A somewhat awkward moment, and Jennifer moved over to sit by where Ronon was finishing up getting ready. "This uhh… this isn't your first trip to Earth right?" Shaking his head, Ronon grunted his reply. Jennifer continued trying to figure out how to broach the subject. "…but it is your first time going alone right?"

"Jackson's coming with me…"

"Dr Jackson?"

Ronon turned, his soft smile muted by the thought of what the IOA wanted with him. "Yeah… said he'll do what he can with the IOA for me."

Blinking, Jennifer scrunched her face. "Uhh why would you need that?"

Checking his eyeroll, Ronon realized that Jennifer probably hadn't had much experience with the IOA. "Because if they don't agree to let these people go, I'm going to kill them all."

Scoffing softly at Ronon's idle threat… at least she just thought it was just an idle threat, Jennifer sighed. "I know what you mean… I'm honestly really surprised they haven't agreed already."

Ronon smirked, and recalled something Daniel had told him when asked the same question. "To them, it's SEP."

"SEP? What's that?"

With a muted hostile glance, Ronon turned to Jennifer as he closed his locker. "Somebody Else's Problem."

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"Go on Mila, I'll catch up with you later… Uncle Sheppy needs to talk to Aunt Sam."

Both Sam and Daniel raised their eyebrows at the way Mila was sitting across from John playing chess with him. The girl turned and flashed a smile at Sam and Daniel, then got up and left with a quick "hi and bye".

Sam could hear Daniel howling in his mind at her being called _"Aunt Sam"_. The Archeologist tried to hide it, but the edge of a smirk on his face as Sam turned to face him and the point of her finger said it all. "_Don't_ even think about it."

Daniel held up his hands and looked innocent. "I said nothing."

Smirking at their camaraderie, John shrugged innocently and spoke eloquently. "Innocent until proven otherwise."

Sam turned to John with an evil expression, but the hint of a smile told him that he wasn't going to die. The way she used her hand to illustrate her point was almost enough to crack his calm features with mirth. "You are on _thin_ ice my friend. Careful which way you aim that sharp wit of yours."

All three of them smiled at the threat, but John could tell Sam was more concerned about her image than anything else right now. He didn't blame her, Sam probably went through hell to reach her position and she defended it proper. John would do the same. "Alright alright… I surrender. Can you at least wait till after lunch to kill me?"

The tinge of blush in Sam's cheek from being flirted with so subtly… but was he flirting or was it just the typical John Sheppard humor? God it was so _frustrating_ trying to figure it out! "_Maybe_… for now I need both of your help with something." She looked over to Daniel who was hiding his bemused expression. "Daniel I swear, if you start laughing I'm gonna use Sheppard's dismembered leg to kick _your _ass after I _kill_ him."

Now he couldn't help it, and Daniel's stifled snort along with John's rub of the bridge of his nose that concealed his smile told Sam she'd just walked into one hell of an instantaneous trap. Daniel finally calmed himself and sighed softly as he looked into Sam's face. She was not amused. "Oh I'm sorry Sam… you've gotta admit, you two are pretty funny."

Rolling her eyes, Sam pushed past it. There were only a few men alive that would survive teasing her like that, and unfortunately the majority of them were at this table. "I hate you both you know that?" another few chuckles, and both men left their commanding officer and friend alone. "Good. Now here's my problem. The IOA is beginning deliberations on whether or not to accept Pegasus refugees, the issue on our end is keeping the refugees themselves from looking bad. Already I've had several reports of theft, assault, and some have even attacked our men as you both know."

Nodding, and in full serious mode now, Daniel agreed. "It's true, actually before you found me Sam, I had Ronon and Teyla's help to break up a possible riot."

Sam winced and groaned softly. "See? That's exactly what I mean. Some of them have been here for months now and are doing little but sitting around and waiting… waiting to see if our galaxy can take them in."

With a sigh, Daniel continued. "In my report to the IOA I push that these are mostly farmers and have a Bronze Age level of technology. They're not used to being in this city and if we put them on a protected planet, they'd flourish quite rapidly. That's apart from the Travelers who are on par if not above our own technology level."

John leaned forward now too, noting with some slight hesitation the way Daniel played with the crystal chess set in front of him as he spoke. "Daniel's right. The Refugees won't last here much longer. Ronon's already told me he's got his new team working riot control… we need to get them through as soon as possible before they start _actually_ hurting each other."

"_That should not be a problem anymore."_

The three occupants of the table looked over to where Teyla was now waddling down the hallway with one hand on her stomach. Sam, clearly too focused on the moment, got up to offer her seat and sit down next to John. Only too late did she realize the double edged sword of her attempt to convenience her friend.

Teyla for that matter didn't really seem to care. She sat down next to Daniel and seamlessly joined the conversation. "I have spoken to the leaders of the individual groups who are causing trouble. I have assured them that their fears are misguided… and that should they continue to cause unrest, my position as mediator would be replaced by Ronon."

John smirked, and his reply was exactly what he was feeling. "That should keep them quiet for awhile… let's just hope no one realizes he's going to be gone for a few days."

Another few laughs, and then Sam pushed ahead even further. "Since you mention it, with our kind of luck the IOA is gonna want Ronon to stay for a bit and explain about what happened with the Wraith. They're definitely going to question him over why he didn't try and steal any ZPMs from the Wraith."

With a soft groan, John muttered. "So basically they don't give a damn he survived, other than to question _why_ he survived. Figures."

It was an accurate assessment, and Sam said what she could to try and stay neutral on the topic of the IOA despite her personal feelings. "Be that as it may, we need the IOA's support if we want to get all these people to safety. Now Teyla…"

The Athosian looked up at her and gave a friendly face. "Yes Colonel Carter?"

A small wince, and Sam spoke. "I'm going to really need your help in the coming days… I'm praying the IOA lets them through and if they do, we'll need to coordinate families, groups, villages…"

"Of course Colonel, anything I can do to help."

A small measure of discomfort, Sam still didn't like being called Colonel. "… and… please… Call me Sam."

Teyla smiled, despite everything, she was still a little unsure of this blond earth woman. "Very well… Sam." She looked to the group and sighed. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm famished."

Getting up, Teyla seemed to be turning to Daniel when John got up as well with a slight groan. "Me too…" he turned to Sam and Daniel and decided to give the two old friends a few moments alone… although this was more a chance to speak to Teyla in private. "You two want anything?"

Sam was about to get up and say she could get it herself… not what she typically would have done when offered but she wanted to keep up her tough appearance. Daniel beat her to it though and smiled at John's generous offer. "Oh. Thanks John, I'll just have whatever juice they might have. Sam?"

A smile creased John's lips ever so slightly. Sam looked to Daniel's seemingly innocent grin, then up to John. "Anything seafood."

John nodded and began to move away. "Right, juice and a squid coming up."

He was already a few feet away despite his minor limp, and Sam's threatening voice did nothing to stop his smile. _"Jooohn."_

It was no use, and John pretended he hadn't heard it. Daniel chuckled at the sight and held his hand up to Sam across the table. After he was done chuckling Daniel looked around to make sure no one was around. "He likes you."

Sam groaned softly and rubbed her forehead. "I know…"

"You like him too."

A smile crept across Sam's lips, Daniel just knew her too well. "Oh gee really? So that's what this whole sarcastic thing we've got going is?"

Daniel laughed a bit and sighed. "I was wondering how you've kept sane with all the chaos in this galaxy… now it makes sense."

Continuing her groan, Sam gave Daniel a pleading look. "We're _just_ _friends_ Daniel. Granted _good _friends, but you know that's it..."

Seeing Sam was uncomfortable talking about it, Daniel decided to drop the issue for a moment and try a lateral approach. "No no… I know that. I'm not saying anything... well… it's just that it's nice to see you like this…" Now his tone got more serious and he leaned in drawing Sam's attention. "Hey…"

Curious, Sam leaned in as well. "Uhh hi?"

A small snort, and Daniel took a gulp. "Sam… I'm worried."

"Me too."

"No no no…" Daniel really didn't know how to broach this subject, he'd been trying to tell Sam to think about her life because he was seriously thinking about his as well. Seeing her joke around at such a potentially dark time was encouraging, and Daniel wanted her to stay that way. "Listen… I've been… well I talked to Jack before I came here."

The faint trace of a smile on Sam's lips vanished, and she now understood what Daniel wanted to talk about. "Oh… how is General O'Neill doing?"

Daniel knew Sam would _never_ call Jack 'Jack' while they were both on duty. Hell he'd seen her call him 'Sir' when they were at O'Malley's. It was just another thing that he knew not to get involved with. "He's alright… the night before I came here we went to this little bistro and got to talking and well…" He knew he had to get through to her somehow, so he decided to use his own situation as a proxy. "I kinda realized that… well I'm not getting any younger… I love being out here, especially here in Atlantis… but it can get pretty lonely."

Falling for his not-so-cunning plan, Sam screwed her lip and sighed, "Yeah… I getcha."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… well… maybe it's time I stopped looking and finally found something."

Blinking a few times at the strange sentence. Sam shook her head. "Sorry, what?"

A little scoff of amusement, and Daniel shrugged around uncomfortably. "I'll be honest… the SGC isn't what it used to be… with the IOA in charge it's all about finding technology… translating Ancient and Asgard texts… I spend most of my time in my office trying to get coffee poisoning."

Smirking, Sam patted Daniel's wrist. "Good thing Vala's there to take care of you."

With a slight groan, Daniel made his opinion clear. "Yeah… about that, listen… I know she's your friend and all… who am I kidding? She's my friend too. But I just don't…."

Sam shook her head and gave his hand a squeeze. "I know… you don't have to explain Daniel. Vala… well…" Sam giggled to herself. It was such a schoolgirl way of thinking. "Well let's just think back to when we were going through the gate those first few years… remember all the offers of marriage?"

Shuddering suddenly, Daniel groaned. "Oh _god_… don't remind me."

"Ha ha… I'm just saying Vala knows a good one when she sees one."

Seeing where Sam was going with that, Daniel shrugged his head around. "Well… not that Vala's not attractive or anything… I just…" he looked to Sam and saw someone who was willing to listen to him no matter what. "…Well… let's just say I wouldn't be opposed if she toned it down a little_._"

Sam nodded in agreement, and then remembered what she'd seen earlier. "Yeah… _wait…_ Wait a minute… you don't mean…?" Sam motioned over to where John and Teyla were chatting while picking up trays of food. Her voice was a shocked whisper. "_Teyla!?"_

Hoping that Sam would come to that conclusion, Daniel had his opening. "Well… it's just a thought. I mean… we _are_ in Pegasus. If things work out we might be able to find someway of defending against the Wraith and Asurans if they can even find us." His tone turned a little more somber. "And well… if the IOA _won't_ let them through…" A moment of silence, and Daniel let his bombshell drop. "I'd really rather stay here than go back to the SGC."

Sam didn't know what to say, so all she could do was think. And no matter which way she turned it around in her head, no matter how the sequence of events played out, it made perfect sense to her that Daniel would rather stay here than go back. Feeling honor was at stake though, Sam finally knew what to say. "You know she's still hoping we can find her people... including the father..."

Danile nodded. "I know... I'm not saying I'm going to drop on one knee and recite Shakespeare, but Sam... the last three weeks make the last 3 months feel like 3 years."

Knowing how relativity worked, Sam smiled. "I... I guess that makes sense."

Wiping his brow, Daniel played the wit. "Oh good... because I was worried you'd correct my temporal analysis."

The two friends laughed a bit, and began to talk about more random things including the chess set that Daniel was now obsessed with. Asking her where they got it, Sam had little choice but to tell the truth. Daniel eventually stopped laughing and told her he was glad she had that experience.

Sam couldn't help but see the parallel in her own life in what Daniel was saying though… if they _could_ defend against the Wraith and Replicators… what would that mean for her? Would she stay in Pegasus until reassigned? _Would_ the IOA reassign her? All she really wanted was some stability to her life…at least from this moment going forward.

Off to the side, John had just finished telling Teyla of his backup plan should things fail with the IOA. The Athosian woman was stunned by his words, but after going through it all in her mind she had only one way to reply. "How can I help?_"_

_----------------------------------------_

The wait was quite possibly the hardest part of this entire attack. The desolate desert winds ripped at his jacket, and the Wraith Sub-Commander was glad that this was finally happening. It had been too long since he'd fed on well nourished cattle and the anticipation was getting to him.

All he had to do was wait… and then follow the Earthlings when they sent someone to their home… his new feeding ground.

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	2. Chapter 2

"Oh don't give me that face Sam. You know I'll be back before long." Daniel raised his sleeve and showed her the injection site with the band aid. "Gotta test out the gene therapy."

Sam smirked and shook her head idly. "Lucky you, I'll be waiting. Take care."

Taking her long time friend in a hug, Daniel responded in kind. "Hey… whatever it is you're doing… keep doing it. We all care about you Sam and I hate it when you don't smile."

Shoving him playfully, Sam laughed. "_Daniel!_" she took a moment to look her friend in the eyes, and realized he was serious. "Okay… whatever it is I'm doing I'll keep doing it. Now get outta here before I kick your butt for making me laugh."

Off to the side, Ronon was having an equally friendly send off by John and Teyla. The fact that he'd just heard John's plan meant he was looking forward to getting back even more. "You're insane. But I like that."

John chuckled and patted him on the back. "Here's hoping we won't have to use it. Play nice with Daniel would ya?"

A moment of Ronon looking to Teyla, and an almost imperceptible smile between the two Pegasus natives left John thinking.

Ronon didn't give him much time though, as he turned and pulled Daniel away from Sam into a buddy buddy hug. "You and me have to talk."

What they were going to talk about was unheard though, as they stepped through the event horizon and headed out to Midway Station.

-------------------------------------------

The gate on the desert planet kawooshed as the matter stream passed through to the next gate in the Midway Bridge, and instantly the Wraith Technicians got the information they needed. "My lord, here are the coordinates of the originating wormhole."

A smile came to the sub-commander. Now was the time to strike. "Signal our diversionary hives. Have them go to these coordinates and draw their attention."

The technician nodded and grinned, with any luck, Atlantis would not even realize their homeworld was being invaded until it was too late.

------------------------------------------

"Uhh… Ooo-kay. Have I given you a reason to think I might be doing something… _ungentlemanly?"_

Ronon had Daniel cornered, the small bunk bed room was way too close for comfort. "No." Ronon grinned awkwardly, and let Daniel move past. Just as the Archeologist was about to run away though, Ronon stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Just… keep it that way."

Before they could continue to argue, an alarm went off and instantly both men became aware that something was about to go _very_ wrong.

------------------------------------------

"You know Daniel was wondering where we got that chess set."

John made the finishing touches to his report on the Traveler Security Force level of training and smirked. "What'd you tell him?"

Sighing at her second in command's ability to have no shame, Sam groaned. "The truth… he laughed his ass off." Sam chuckled and accepted the report from John. "That's not the biggest surprise I've got for you though."

Now intrigued, John looked up with a curious grin. But whatever Sam was about to say was interrupted by Chuck's sudden voice over the PA. "_Colonel Carter, this is the control room, please come in."_

Sam sighed, tapped her earpiece and replied. "Yes Chuck, what is it?"

"_We've got a problem… sensors have detected Hyperspace windows in the solar system.. we're not expecting any Traveler patrols anytime soon."_

John instantly bristled, no matter what the situation was, it couldn't turn out well. "Let's go…"

Nodding, Sam quickly got up and opened the door leading out to the control room. It took only seconds to get inside and look at the screen where the sensors were having difficulty making out exactly what they were detecting. She looked to Chuck as he worked to focus the scan and figure out what was there. "Report."

"3 distinct hyperspace windows… can't tell what they are but definitely capital ship sized. We do have that many Traveler craft on missions but they'd jump in closer… I'm not getting any IFF either."

Sam and John looked at each other, and without words they knew what they had to do. Sam motioned to John to move to the control chair, and looked down to Chuck. "Raise the shields, have someone find Larrin and bring her here right now." Just for posterity, she turned to John as he began to limp away. "Colonel Sheppard…" John turned his head and stared back, and Sam found that all she could do was nod to him.

The simple movement meant so much… it meant thank you… it meant good luck… and most of all, it meant be careful. To everyone around it was just another of those moments that showed just how well knit the expedition was, and that it would take more than just a simple attack to defeat them.

A few moments passed, and Larrin rushed up into the control room. "What is it!? Why is the shield up?" Sam motioned with her head for the Traveler to stand beside her and look. The 3 signals were beginning to clear and now they knew what was happened. "_Wraith…_ How'd they find us?"

Sam shook her head. "I don't know… but however they did it they're keeping their distance. Unless they get into orbit we can't hope to hit them with our drones."

From seemingly nowhere, John's voice broke through on their earpieces. "_Then let's take the fight to them."_

Larrin shrugged her shoulders and ground her teeth. "Even if I launch my whole fleet we don't stand a chance against three hives. Each of those hives has 2 cruisers docked and over 200 darts… we'd get swarmed before we even got close enough for our weapons to have any decent effect."

Agreeing, Sam began to tabulate the armament Atlantis had. "Daedalus might stand a chance with its nuclear weapons... but they've been back on Earth getting a refit for weeks."

Surprising both again, John began to yell… almost. "_Wait! That's it! We've got nukes in storage room B-29 don't we?"_

A quick mental recall, and Sam replied. "Uhh Yeah… we've got what's left of Daedalus's nuclear ordinance before she set out for the Milky Way… but we've got no way to reach those Hives."

Larrin scratched her chin, she felt trapped here on this rock in space, unable to simply hyperspace away. Travelers rarely fought when they could run unless the circumstances depended on it. And unfortunately, this was one of them. "We might be able to drop them using our ships…"

Again John spoke with confidence. "_No wait... We can use a cloaked Jumper. Drop a few Mark 8s and bang, no more Wraith!"_

It was a good plan, and Sam knew instantly who would want to pilot such a suicide mission. She sighed softly and after a moment of resignation looked to Larrin and pushed the emotion away. "Good idea…" she tapped her earpiece to wide com mode. "Major Lorne… report to the control chair room to relieve Colonel Sheppard." Another second to listen to Lorne's acknowledgement and she forced herself to say it. "Colonel Sheppard… meet with Dr Zelenka in the Jumper Bay… we'll have the nukes brought up there immediately."

Larrin narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow. "What? You're letting Sheppard fly?"

Sam turned, motioned for Larrin to follow, and pointed to Chuck. "Coordinate our security forces, make sure the refugees stay in their areas and keep calm." Sam began to walk away with Larrin following. "Come on, I'll need your help to coordinate the strike."

Now jogging, Larrin kept up with Sam effortlessly. "Wait! You haven't answered me! Sheppard's still hurt, why are you sending _him?!"_

It was pounding in her head, Sam knew exactly why. "He's our best Jumper Pilot… and we won't have a second chance."

Sending men on dangerous missions was something that always bothered her, but Sam knew her duty, and even more, John knew it as well.

---------------------------------------------

Daniel was by far not a soldier, but seeing how Ronon used the towel to grab the Wraith's head and spin him around for a perfect position to break its neck certainly made him wish he could be one. Then again, Daniel hated even reloading guns.

The other Wraith that had found them seemed reticent to engage them, but Daniel just couldn't tell why. Ronon seemed in his element though, using the body of the now dead Wraith as cover while firing back. "Jackson! I need covering fire!"

Ever the generous man, Daniel gave Ronon what he wanted. The G36K Assault rifle was by far not the typical weapon Daniel used, and it showed with the inaccuracy of his shots. He still managed to down two Wraith before running out of ammo. "Reload!"

The fight was hectic, and now even Ronon saw that retreat was the only way to survive. There were just too many Wraith that had spilled through and now with only Daniel as his support, there was no chance of fighting his way to either the gate or the control room.

They managed to stonewall the Wraith for the moment, but quickly they were losing ground on a very small space station. "I thought you were some kind of hero!"

Daniel finished reloading the rifle and scoffed at Ronon's harsh words. "Oh sorry, left my costume back home…" Seeing that humor wasn't going to get him far, Daniel thought about how he might be able to contribute to their survival. "They're after Earth… it's the only explanation!"

Ronon growled, and leaned out from behind the corner to try and see what was there. "We gotta stop em… you got any hidden talents?"

The question was too strange and Daniel had to reply. "Like singing or origami?" Seeing Ronon's death glare he quickly added. "_Uhh_…! you mean like computers or explosives?" Ronon nodded, and Daniel grimaced, "Sorry… but if you need something translated I'm your guy."

Letting out a frustrated groan, Ronon leaned around the edge and shot the two Wraith heading towards them in a nonchalant manner. "Come on… we'll have to go the long way."

------------------------------------------

"Be careful! The guidance packages are much more delicate than normal!"

Dr Zelenka was furiously trying to keep the grunting marines who hefted the 3 nuclear missiles from damaging the jury-rigged sensor packages he'd installed. They would allow Colonel Sheppard to deliver targeting data after he'd deployed them like space mines.

Of course the concept of mining space was so folly, that Radek nearly kicked himself for using the comparison. "Colonel Carter?"

Sam turned from where she stood with Larrin and nodded. "Yes Doctor?" Both she and Larrin moved closer. "Yes Doctor?"

Radek was worried, _very_ worried about the plan they'd briefed him on not even 10 minutes ago. "We have a problem… the instant Colonel Sheppard opens the aft hatch to deploy these, the Wraith will know he's there and open fire. The possibility of his survival is…" He didn't finish the sentence, Radek knew he didn't need to.

John on the other hand forced himself to walk straight. The wound on his side still wasn't completely healed, but at least he would act like it had. "No choice… those Hives are probably waiting for reinforcements. Even with the drones we won't stand a chance against a siege and only 1 ZPM."

Sam felt the need to make sure John understood her position. "I can't order you to do this John…"

Interrupting, John waved his hand. "No one else has jumper experience against the Wraith… don't worry. I'll be fine."

Larrin and Sam looked at each other for a moment, neither satisfied with that answer. And that's when Larrin finally decided to put her chips all in. "No... you'll never make it on your own…"

Both John and Sam looked to each other and then stared back. Sam was the one to speak though. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

-------------------------------------

"Ronon!"

Despite not being very computer literate, Daniel could access cameras on Midway's system. What he was seeing was terrifying. Ronon took a stand next to him and watched as the Wraith in the control room fed on one of the technicians… leaving Dr Lee and Dr Kavanaugh to interrogate. "Goddammit!"

Realizing that the Wraith were about to invade his homeworld, and more than likely they'd planned for such a thing, Daniel knew what he had to do. Billions of lives were at stake. "We need to warn Earth… I need a radio."

Ronon grunted in confusion, with no words asking what the plan was,

Daniel replied quickly. "They're obviously trying to override the lockdown that the alarm set off. Once they do, they'll dial Earth and invade. If they can get a foothold on the SGC then they can go anywhere in the Milky Way… maybe even send a transmission to their ships in Pegasus."

"So why do you need a radio?"

The plan was simple, not let a damn Wraith onto Earth… while giving Atlantis a chance to retake Midway. "We wait till they break the code and dial Earth, standard procedure is to keep the Iris closed until they get an IDC. If I can radio before they do that, we can warn them the Wraith are trying to get through."

Seeing the merit of the plan, Ronon shrugged. "What about us?"

Now realizing that sometimes the best laid plans need a little fine tuning, Daniel replied tersely. "Still working that out… anywhere we can hide here?"

Shrugging, Ronon peeked around the corner looking for more Wraith. "Uhh… there's a Jumper… can you fly it?"

Feeling his arm where he'd recently gotten his injection, Daniel winced at the realization. "Good question… What about Dr Lee and Kavanaugh?"

Ronon pointed to the screen where now Kavanaugh was on the floor as well. It looked like Dr Lee was without hope now as the Wraith now moved closer to him. "He's as good as dead… we'll never get to him in time."

Daniel did _not_ want to abandon the quirky Doctor, and he was about to begin arguing when a stunner bolt hit the wall rather closer to him than he would have preferred. Ronon instantly pulled him away and put two shots into the Drone's gut, forcing it down to the ground and making a momentary roadblock for its backup. "Run Jackson!"

Ever one to try and stay alive, Daniel did as he was told.

----------------------------------------

Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman was on duty as always… or at least he wanted people to think it was always. Being the senior NCO in the SGC was a daunting task, but Walter bore it without issue and even now as he felt just a little tired, he wished something might happen.

Usually when he wished something like that, he found that nothing happened, but when the Gate began to receive telemetry about an incoming wormhole, and the alarm rang loudly, Walter wondered whether he should have been careful what he wished for. The telemetry coming through was from Midway it seemed. "Incoming wormhole!"

Unlike Walter, General Hank Landry was _always_ on duty. Only when one of the other commanding officers of the base were free did he ever take time off for his family or rest. "What is it Walter?"

The sergeant turned in his seat, but before he could speak, every radio in the room began to screech. _"This is Daniel Jackson! Close-the-iris-Close-the-iris-Close-the-iris!!!"_

Hearing the desperate Doctor's pleas, Hank nodded. "Do it Walter!"

The sergeant quickly snapped to and smacked the emergency close button. Moments later as the iris closed, a dull thump was heard. Hank grabbed one of the Radios from the SF's nearby and barked into the radio. "Dr Jackson! This is General Landry, the hell is going on?"

The sounds of gunfire and basic pandemonium outlined Daniel's voice. "_I'm on Midway! I've got Ronon with me but the station is overrun with Wraith! They're trying to make it to Earth!"_

Proving his point, more thumps against the Iris now… most likely Wraith warriors. "Dr Jackson… did the Wraith take Atlantis?" It was a disturbing thought, all those men and women…

"_I don't think so! They gated in not 20 minutes after me and Ronon showed up! I think they tracked us somehow!"_ More gunfire, and howls of pain from downed Wraith warriors.

"Can you make it back to Atlantis?"

"_Not a chance! We're trying to make it to a Jumper but we're gonna have to wait till Atlantis realizes what's going on and sends a strike force! Do __not__ open the Iris till we can give an all clear!"_

From behind, an irritated voice came that none of the soldiers wanted to hear. "Excuse me? The Wraith have attacked _Midway?"_

Landry growled softly and shook his head idly. "It appears that way Mr. Coolidge, we've got a wormhole established and we're talking to Doctor Jackson."

Coolidge moved forward and 'hmm'ed'. He then turned to Landry. "Have the Wraith taken Atlantis?"

"No… they must have found someway to hijack the bridge. Once Atlantis tries to send a report they'll send a strike force to keep us safe."

With an emotionless face, Coolidge turned to Landry. "Send the self-destruct signal to the bridge."

Every Air Force officer in the room turned to look at him. This was _not_ a light decision. Landry looked back just as sternly. "_Excuse_ me?"

Without backing down, Coolidge pointed to the still active gate. "Look at that General! We just came within a hairbreadth of getting invaded! The Wraith want Earth and they're doing everything they can to take it! We need to ensure that that can't happen." He drew in a breath, evidently this was a hard decision even for him. "Transmit the destruct code for the bridge… all nukes."

Landry was in no mood to do such a thing, especially since Daniel Jackson, Ronon, and the Midway crew was still on board the station. "You're asking me to kill my own men."

"I'm _ordering_ you to defend this planet!"

It was a hard decision, and Landry knew that if it really came to that, he'd do it without hesitation. So he picked up the radio again and called into it. "Dr Jackson."

"_General! We're almost to the Jumper! We'll lose contact once we're clear of the station I think!"_

Gulping, Landry made the hard decision. "Doctor. You have 5 minutes until the IOA orders me to detonate the self-destruct on the Midway Bridge. Can you make it to a safe distance?"

Coolidge instantly became fierce. "I said _now_ General!"

"_Uhhh I don't know sir! I've never flown this or anything else before!"_

Landry ignored Coolidge and tapped Walter on the shoulder. "Do it Walter… 5 minutes."

Walter turned to look at Coolidge, prayed momentarily for absolution, and input the code. "Ready sir."

The head of the IOA was still insisting. "Blow it now Sergeant! We can't give the Wraith any chance!"

Walter knew damn well who he'd rather listen to, and hearing Landry bark into the radio knew he'd made the right choice. "Doctor Jackson! You have 5 minutes to get as far away from Midway as possible! The station is now set to self-destruct!"

"_What!? General!"_

Landry turned to face an angry Coolidge and kept talking to Daniel. "It's out of my hands Doctor… Get to the escape Jumper and get to safe distance. We'll dispatch Daedalus as soon as possible."

There was no reply, and Landry could tell it was because Daniel was too busy fighting for his life to tell Coolidge where he could stuff his nuke. Coolidge looked to the General with a hard stare. "General. As head of the IOA I order you to…"

The old General had had enough. "_Listen to me you sniveling little weasel_…" If this were anywhere else, and no junior officers were around, Landry would have picked up the skinny politician and slammed him into the wall. "I am _not_ going to order the deaths of my own men because you're too cowardly to give them a chance. So you go and file your complaint against me but we both know you're being a pathetic coward. You've lost all respect this base ever had for you… Now get out of this control room before I have you _thrown_ out."

Coolidge could see he was serious, and knowing that the General was right as far as the report went, silently moved off. He'd done his job, he'd kept Earth safe… and Atlantis always had ZPMs to dial Earth to evacuate their people and any technology they could scavenge.

Because there was no way in hell anyone was ever going to accept refugees now that the Wraith had so blatantly tried to invade.

------------------------------------------------

"This is Jumper 1, I'm going to be making my approach soon. Looks like they've spotted you and launching their darts… I'll get as close as I can and drop."

Larrin's voice came back snappily. "Just don't blow them till we're clear, I'd rather not have to clean up a mess."

John couldn't tell whether or not she was _trying _to be suggestive, or if by this point he just took everything Larrin said as a double entendre. "Uhh right. Look, don't take any chances, Get their attention, hold em off, then run like hell. Clear?"

"Gotcha." Larrin turned to her helmsman and pointed out a trajectory for the 4 other Traveler generational ships moving towards the ringed planet where the Wraith had dropped in. She was unwilling to risk anymore or even the Aurora, and each ship only had a skeleton crew of volunteers. "Larrin to all ships, keep your energy on shields. 2 strafing runs and bug out. Sheppard's got the big guns for this op and we're just giving him cover… clear?"

4 acknowledgments and she took a deep breath. Sheppard was almost to his entry vector and the Wraith Darts were nearing weapon's range. Larrin only hoped the suicidal maniac survived so she could slap his silly ass for _being_ a suicidal maniac.

--------------------------------------

"The Travelers have engaged the Hives ma-am. Looks like the Hives are taking a phalanx position…"

Amelia pointed out on the screen and zoomed in using Atlantis's cameras. She pointed out what Chuck had just stated. "Looks like a strafing run, those Darts are pestering them though."

Sam groaned softly and ground her teeth. "Wish we had 302's… guess we're just gonna have to pray those nukes take out enough Darts for the Travelers to mop up the rest… how's our ambush party doing?"

Not really knowing how to reply, Amelia blinked and then almost muttered. "Uhh… can't really tell. They're cloaked."

Rolling her eyes, Sam could only pray. "Let's hope they're in position… Zoom in on the Hives."

The screen moved, and the distinct visual of three hives combining their impressive fire against the passing Traveler ships, at this distant range though, the Travelers were hard targets to hit compared to the slow moving Hives.

Particle Cannon shots traced across Wraith Plasma bolts, a crisscrossing of red and blue energy pulses slammed into shielded Generation ships, and heavily armored Wraith organic hull. It was oddly beautiful to watch.

The room was silent as they watched on the screen the Travelers fighting to give Colonel Sheppard the needed distraction to plant his nuclear charges. The Hives had inadvertently gotten into a perfect position for a strike and now all they had to do was wait.

The Travelers turned their craft around and began a second pass, this time closer and with more intensity. Definitely they wanted to get the Hive's attention and it wasn't long before both exchanges of fire started to show damage. "Ma-am, the Travelers are starting to take damage. They won't last much longer especially if those Darts keep harassing them."

Sam nodded, and keyed in her radio to the Traveler frequency. "This is Colonel Carter to Larrin, get your ships out of the way, head straight back to Atlantis, I've got 6 Jumpers waiting to mop up any Darts following you about a minute out."

Larrin's voice came back surprised. _"Really?"_

"Couldn't let you go out there alone." Sam smiled, and realized that slowly but surely the Expedition and the Travelers were gaining trust for each other.

Meanwhile on the Jumper, John had just finished planting his last nuke and began the complex procedure of getting the hell out of the blast radius.

--------------------------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

"Where the hell'd you learn to fly!?"

Daniel tried to keep a straight angle with the Jumper, but he'd never flown stick before, let alone mental. "I'm trying I'm trying! This is _really _weird to me okay!?'

Ronon growled and tried to think of someway he could help, all he could think about was encouraging the Doctor. "You ever seen a Mark 9 go off?!"

Feeling just as frustrated at leaving Dr Lee behind as he was about their own predicament, Daniel snarked back. "Actually yes! I set off the first one with SG-1!"

Now furious, Ronon growled back. "Then fly faster!" A sudden bleeping on the HUD got both of their attentions, and Ronon barked. "What is it?!"

"I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

Daniel worried that it was what he was thinking it was, and as the alarm finally flashed a signal, he knew things were about to get rough. "I mean I don't know! Hang on!"

The blast wave from the Mark 9 nuke that had just incinerated the Midway Station along with both gates inside quickly reached the Jumper, and the deflector shields barely held as the small craft was pushed along for the space version of surfing a tsunami.

-------------------------

The blast had been magnificent, Sam made damn sure to take a screenshot to use as her new background image it was so hauntingly beautiful. The massive EM burst had blanked out sensors and despite the elation of fighting back, Sam was a little worried that only the Traveler ships were detected making their way back to Atlantis.

So a sense of relief washed over her and the entire control room staff when John limped into the control room from the docking bay behind him with Larrin's help about 20 minutes later. She had one arm slung under his shoulders and helped him limp through. Sam noted instantly and became quite worried. "John? What happened? Are you okay?"

A few nods, and Larrin's groan of exertion told Sam that John's pain threshold was its usual very high point. "Yeah… just a little banged up."

Larrin scoffed, and set him down on the chair Chuck vacated. The technician was aghast at how John took it all in stride and was more concerned with the city than his own health. Larrin muttered as she shoved Sheppard in annoyance. "_You moron_! You almost killed yourself!"

Sam shook her head and tapped her headset. "Dr Keller please report to the control room. Bring a medical kit."

John raised his hand to argue, but seeing Sam with her fierce expression on, knew better than to kick a dead horse. "… I got knocked out in the blast… Are the hives gone?"

Nodding, Sam showed him the impressive picture she'd taken. "All three, the blast even ignited part of the ring the planet has. If anything survived it won't for long." Looking at Larrin, she narrated what she thought must have happened. "…He set off the nukes as soon as you guys were clear…"

Chuckling, John nodded. "Perfect shot… the hives were separating… couldn't miss that chance."

Ignoring John's suicidal heroics, Sam looked to Larrin and smiled softly. Larrin nodded at her assumption. "His ship caught the edge of the blast wave, no real damage but it knocked out his inertial dampers. Lucky he's got such a hard head."

Sam sighed in relief, and she nodded to Larrin. "Thanks for going back for him."

Larrin softly smacked the back of John's head and then squeezed him softly with the arm under his shoulders. "You _better be_ as grateful as Sam is! You _ever_ do that again and I'll kill you myself!"

Groaning now, John seemed to be recovering from his unconsciousness. "Yeah yeah… I am. No more heroics for me please."

"_You better not try anymore!"_ The entire control room was surprised by Doctor Keller's almost screech, and she continued as she walked up behind John and took over for Larrin in helping the slightly dazed Colonel. "I swear if I ran a private practice here I could live off your injuries alone!"

Sam winced at the slightly dark joke, and decided to push forward now that the crisis was over. "Alright… we've made it through this okay but now we've got a problem. Why were those hives just sitting there? Why didn't they attack?"

Chuck had taken a seat nearby and was going over the scans of the Wraith Hive. "Ma-am?"

The crowd turned to face him minus Keller who groaned softly as she ran a portable scanner over John. Larrin furrowed her brow and almost muttered. "Whatcha got Chucky?"

Grimacing ever so slightly at what was sure to become his new nickname, Chuck rolled his eyes and pulled up the information. "That's _Chuck_ thank you, and I've got all the sensor data from the Hives. They were in subspace communication with _someone_."

Amelia was at the other side and working diligently. "I'm trying to triangulate it… the Traveler ships picked it up as well and I'm getting sensor data from them now."

Sam sighed and looked to John. "Alright, Colonel, go down to the infirmary…" before he could argue, Sam held her hand up. "No excuses, that's an order."

John saw she was serious, and relented. With Larrin's help, he got up and began to walk all while Dr Keller muttered to herself in repressed anger. Sam looked to Amelia and nodded. "Keep working on that signal, I want to know where they came from or who they were talking to." She then turned to Chuck. "Dial Midway, we need to let Earth know what happened."

With a bit of tension, Chuck began the dialing sequence, after everything that happened, he was glad to do something _normal_. So when the dialing procedure failed, he furrowed his brow in worry. He tried again and met with the same failure. "Colonel… it's not working."

Moving closer Sam stood over his shoulder. "Try again."

Chuck knew better than to get snippy with Colonel Carter, and tried a third time. Still nothing. "It's not on our end… we'd get an alarm from the DHD."

Sighing softly, Sam tapped her earpiece. "Dr Zelenka to the control room please."

A second passed and the Czech's voice came over the headset. "_Zelenka, what is the issue?"_

"We can't dial the Midway Bridge, I want to rule out any problems on our end first."

"_Copy, I'll be up with technical team in 5 minutes."_

Things just seemed to be getting worse, and now as that instinctual feeling in Sam's gut began to rise, she knew the bad news was just waiting to strike at her.

------------------------------------

"Moderate contusion on your head… you ripped a few stitches… and your eyes are a little sluggish."

John groaned softly and shrugged. "Nothing that won't heal."

Jennifer and Larrin both groaned in irritation, though Jennifer was the one to speak. "True, but I'm still putting you on desk duty. You need at least another 2 weeks for that wound to heal up properly and I'm not going to let you exacerbate the problem anymore."

Seeing that he had no choice, John relented and sighed dejectedly. "Alright alright… I'll stay put… 2 weeks pushing paper…"

Larrin put her hand down on John's shoulder pinning him to the infirmary bed. "Nah uh! You're staying here for now. Right Doctor?"

With a nod, Jennifer snapped on a glove with an eerie smile. "At least until I'm satisfied."

Shuddering, John resigned himself to the medical treatment, He drifted between sleep and consciousness for awhile, watching as Larrin finally left to see to her people. They'd managed to hold off the strange Wraith attack, but now John knew the IOA was going to give them hell. Evacuation was the only way to go now that the Wraith knew where they were.

------------------------------------

"My lord."

Todd continued to work on modifying the Asuran power converters into something that the Hive could attach to. He turned to this new sub-commander, still so young… still inexperienced. "Yes?"

"We've received a report from our scout ships, the hives sent to distract Atlantis were indeed destroyed."

It was to be expected, the Atlanteans were surprisingly devious when threatened. "Inconsequential."

The Sub-Commander growled softly, he was much more defiant then the one who launched their first strike. "This brings our total down to 12 operational hives! We will never…"

Interrupting, Todd growled angrily at his sub-commander and hissed. "Yes we will _never_ be able to defeat either the Atlanteans or Replicators with so few numbers! But neither will we have enough food if we remain at these numbers! Our ships are too slow to reach the Human homeworld, but with these modules our Hive will be unstoppable." He glared menacingly at the Sub-Commander. "What of the advance party to attack through their bridge?"

Cowed by the sudden wrath, the Sub-Commander held back his ire. Perhaps one day it would be him in this Commander's place, but not today. "They have failed. Our last report has the bridge between our galaxies destroyed."

A moment of contemplation, and Todd smiled. "Excellent."

"But it was a failure! Only by hyperdrive do we have any hope of…"

A snarl, and the sub-commander was silenced. "Yes! But the Atlanteans are now trapped! Atlantis is stranded… and a perfect target for our latest Hive."

The Sub-Commander looked at the console ahead of him, and saw what Todd was talking about. "…Forgive me… I should not have doubted… Shall I inform our hives?"

Todd shook his head, the conversion was nowhere near complete, and if it came down to it it'd have to be on the fly. "No… the less know of this success the better. Now leave me, I must continue my work."

The Sub-Commander bowed his head and turned. Perhaps he was wrong, perhaps this conniving old Wraith really was worthy of leadership.

---------------------------------------

It took some convincing, but eventually Dr Keller was satisfied John's stitches would hold and let him go on the strict promise to not exert himself.

It came as a surprise when Lorne was waiting for him outside the infirmary with a worried expression. "Sir."

John was still limping, but for the most part his injuries were now minor. "Yes Major?"

The shorter Major sighed softly and kept his voice down. "Colonel Carter asked me to tell you to go see her as soon as you have a chance… command staff only."

That meant even the Major didn't know what was going on, John furrowed his brow and nodded. "Thanks Major…"

Lorne saluted, but he looked troubled, something must have happened.

The walk up to the control room took longer than usual, John's now minor limp drew a few glances, but every so often he noticed someone who looked downtrodden, almost disillusioned. Sam had told him how bad it was about 3 months ago and the faces he now saw were what she described.

Something had happened.

John had just entered the Control Room and spotted Larrin storming off below in the Gate Room, everyone from civilians to Marines moved out of her way as she was clearly very angry. John made a note to check with her after talking with Sam. "Uhh… what's going on?"

The few technicians in the control room all had that downcast expression. He could have sworn Amelia had been crying, and Chuck had lost the everpresent smile he had as he looked to John. "Sir… Colonel Carter's waiting for you.'

Now extremely worried, John moved forward and crossed the bridge to the Office. Inside, Sam was sitting at her desk with an expressionless face, not even doing anything as she waited. "Sam…What the hell happened?"

Sam looked up at John, and blinked a few times before responding. "Sit down John."

John did as he was told, he had the feeling that it was the best thing to do. "Sam… what is it?"

Gulping once, Sam kept her face impassive as she began. "Midway's gone John. The Wraith hacked into the macro and tried to make it to Earth."

Speechless, John felt his heart begin to race. All those disillusioned faces now made sense.

"From what I can tell, they waited until we used the bridge to hijack the last gate in Pegasus in order to get through… the Hives sent here were most likely a distraction so we were less likely to find out until it was too late."

John winced, and rubbed his face. "And we fell for it…"

Nodding, Sam kept her voice low. "They probably weren't planning on us winning here… just wanted to get our attention. This also explains how they knew where we were… triangulated us when we dialed."

Sighing, now understanding that things had just gotten _even _worse, John asked the question he knew must have been going through Sam's mind. "Do we have any clue what happened to Midway's crew… Ronon and Daniel?"

Shaking her head, John could tell Sam was barely repressing the many emotions probably going through her. "We dialed Earth directly… turns out the Wraith did manage to dial Earth… Daniel warned the SGC before any Wraith got through and the Iris went up… but the IOA sent the signal to destroy the bridge."

Raising his eyebrows, John's jaw dropped. "What?! You mean the station…"

"Not just the station." Sam kept her composure, the self-destruct mechanism the IOA had implemented was beyond top secret… except now that they actually used it. "Instead of the standard 10 megaton nuke for Midway… they placed 10 Mark 9 Gatebusters along strategic points in the bridge… along with the station itself." A moment to take a calming breath, but John could tell from the loose strands of her hair that floated before her eyes that she'd been affected tremendously. "General Landry gave Daniel and Ronon five minutes to reach the escape jumper… they don't know whether they made it or not."

"Neither of them has the gene… how could they fly it?"

"Actually, Daniel had just gotten the gene therapy when he left… it's possible he could take the jumper far enough to survive." The only hope Sam had for her old friend.

John checked his breathing, his hands were trembling slightly from the rage and realization that Ronon and Daniel might be dead. "Does he have any flight training? Any chance he could…"

Sam's voice fluttered just barely, the most emotion he'd seen from her ever. "He's had some minor training… nothing serious… He might have been able to get away but 5 minutes…" Sam sighed softly, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "General Landry promised to send Daedalus to search… but that's not the worst of it." She winced and then looked directly to John. "The IOA found out John… Coolidge was the one to order the bridge destroyed."

It finally dawned on John what had everyone so depressed. "…They're not letting anyone through…"

Shaking her head Sam leaned on her desk with her elbows. "I just told Larrin… It's still my choice to offer them sanctuary… but if the Wraith know where we are, you can bet the Asurans will soon too."

It was over, it was all well and over and John had only one possible alternative. "How'd Larrin take it?"

"Not good… I don't know what I can say to her… and we've only got enough supplies to last 4 or 5 months before we exhaust it all." A soft swallow of reality. "That is if we can even last that long against a siege."

There wasn't anything else to say, and John didn't know whether or not Sam would be willing to hear the plan he'd been developing over the last few weeks. He certainly knew she played by the rules, and this was a _big_ break of them. Deciding to try and nip at least one situation in the bud, John pushed himself out of the chair and sighed softly after a few moments of contemplative silence. "I'll talk to Larrin… try and keep the panic down… we can still try right?"

Sam nodded, and a rueful smile came over her face. "Can always try…" She looked up to John and sighed, her voice bereft of emotion. "Do what you can John… I… I need a few minutes." The shock of learning that everyone on the Midway Station was dead... Sam had always found those men comically annoying but _never_... _Never_ would she ever want them to die...

John didn't say another word as he left Sam's office. Both officers were feeling more than just the weight of the city on them now…

-----------------------------------

"I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you General."

Jack drummed his fingers on his mahogany desk. God he hated the tacky thing, but to refuse the man before him's gift would have put a rift between him and the IOA. "Tell me Dick, exactly when were you planning on telling me that you'd rigged the entire gate bridge to blow?"

Richard Woolsey seemed a bit uncomfortable, but he kept his composure to a somewhat calm degree. "Yes well… it was deemed to be only privy to those with a vested interest in the Pegasus Galaxy. Colonel Carter was sworn to secrecy as were the entire IOA Supreme Council."

"Which includes you of course?" Jack made little attempt to hide his scorn. "And not the head of Homeworld Security?"

Woolsey sighed softly and took his glasses off to rub his nose. "I _am_ sorry about that General… It was deemed to be used only as a last resort and to give widespread knowledge of it would have jeopardized our talks with the Jaffa."

Jack rolled his eyes and for the umptybillionth time wished he could just reach over and strangle the politician in front of him. "The Jaffa?! You mean you didn't want the Air Force to know! Which by the way we're very disappointed in."

Woolsey leaned back in his chair, obviously bothered as well. "I know… and I'm sorry General. If it were up to me I would never have set the self-destruct. Dr Lee was a great asset to us, as well as the other 2 technicians on the station. We still don't know whether or not Doctor Jackson and Specialist Ronon were able to make it. "

With a wave of his hand, Jack brushed off the comment like an annoying fly. "Oh I _know_ he's alive. You've never wanted to kill Daniel so you don't know how hard it actually is to do!" Seeing Woolsey's almost mortified reaction was worth the dark joke. Jack had no doubt in his mind that Daniel had survived, if he hadn't, more than likely the archeologist would have shown up naked in his office… _again. _Thank god there was a flag here just in case.

"Yes well… _apart from that_… we now have the problem that the Atlantis Expedition is now mostly out of reach. We can only maintain communication when they dial Earth, and we're back to 3 weeks there and 30 seconds back."

"Yeah… course that's not much of a problem when all you're sending back are ancient doohickeys."

Woolsey could easily tell that the General was quite and very angry at the IOA. "Seeing as how the Wraith know where Atlantis is now, I would not be surprised if the city comes under siege again."

Jack leaned over to his right and gave his 'punch me clown' a hard bop on the nose. If he couldn't hit Woolsey, he was definitely going to hit _something_. "No _ya think?_" Jack sighed softly, now knowing that his instinct a month ago when Carter and Sheppard were here was right.

For that matter, Woolsey seemed genuinely concerned. "We've reequipped the Daedalus with as much offensive weaponry as her hull will tolerate, which by the way has been upgraded as well to allow for the dual cargo pods that are being installed."

"Cargo pods?"

Woolsey nodded and opened his briefcase. "Because of the possibility of running into significant Wraith or Replicator resistance, the new plans for the 304 upgrade were pushed through much sooner than scheduled. We've repurposed the parts that were being built for the Pheonix."

Totally confused, Jack leaned forward and examined the 50 page folder Woolsey handed him. Flipping through it quickly, he shook his head idly. "_What_?"

Deadpan, Woolsey replied. "Look at the last page."

Doing as he was told, Jack saw a schematic along with several pictures with lines pointing to specific places. "Ahhh why didn't you just _say so_ in the first place?"

"I thought that's what I was doing now."

Realizing he was right, Jack remained silent and examined the paper. It looked similar to what he knew 304s looked like, but the rear flight pods had a new section attached on top giving it a boxy shape. The front section where the plasma beams were attached were elongated and wided as well, not large enough to obstruct the hangers, but still enough for… whatever was inside them. "Okay… it looks like you just doubled the hangers and gave it a mutton chop!"

Woolsey winced slightly, and pointed out specific parts. "The _'Mutton Chop'_ is actually a part of the ship's new primary weapon. It's all very complicated but the Asgard Core had much more information that was lost in translation. With Dr Jackson and his team's help though, we've been able to translate it properly and examine all the files in detail. The Asgard did indeed give us their most powerful weapons on the Odyssey at the time… however… with new data recovered from the database on _Atlantis_, our scientists have been able to perfect the experimental weapons the Asgard were working on."

Jack blinked a few times, the sentence was relatively easy to comprehend and all he wanted to know was one thing. "Bigger phasers?"

Woolsey's groan was totally understandable.

--------------------------------------------

John knew that there was no way it could get any worse, but seeing Larrin sitting outside his quarters ostensibly to wait for him had him think otherwise. "Larrin."

She turned her head and stared harshly at him. "Sam told you?"

Now getting to her feet, John answered Larrin on a face to face basis. "Yeah… she told me." There was a few seconds of uncomfortable silence between them, and Larrin finally broke it with a soft question. "Were you serious?"

"Excuse me?"

Larrin wasn't in any playing mood. "I said were you serious? About coming with us?"

John sighed softly, he'd said it to keep Larrin from doing anything drastic… and now he had to fess up. "Well yeah… but…"

The Traveler wasn't pleased. "_But_ what? Your people aren't going to let us through. The only reason I came here was because I thought your people might help… _Don't_ tell me I was wrong about _you_ too."

"Larrin…"

Hearing her name made her even angrier. "_Don't 'Larrin' me! _That might have worked before but not this time! I'm telling my people we're leaving as soon as we can pack all our stuff and I need to know _now_ whether you're coming or not!"

Deciding that tact was less than helpful, John just spit it out. "We might not have to!"

He spent the next 10 minutes elaborating on exactly what the plan he, Dr Zelenka and Mila had been working on for the past few months. Needless to say, the Traveler woman was shocked at the prospect. "You're serious aren't you…? This isn't some kind of wraith shit you're feeding me is it?"

John kept his gaze strong, he had to be fully committed to this and with Larrin and the Travelers help, it would certainly go a lot smooth. "I've been planning it for weeks now… I've got Ronon, Teyla, and hopefully another two or three of my guys willing to go forward with it."

Dumbfounded by John's plan, Larrin was still incredulous. "You're seriously going to do this? Everything you just told me?"

Nodding, John took Larrin's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "This is my _home_ Larrin… I'm not about to let the Wraith, the Replicators, or even my own people take me away… not again."

Seeing that John was serious, Larrin cocked her head and kept her voice down, slowly they were moving closer and closer as they spoke. "What? Again?"

John sighed, and recounted the tale. "A year ago… the Asurans actually did take Atlantis. We weren't here though, we found a ship with living Lanteans and well… they kicked us out. Idiots got killed by the Asurans within a month. We only got the city back by going on an unauthorized rescue mission."

Larrin was again silent, and she looked at John and how his determination was real. "I… I'll talk to our leaders… get them to see…"

John took her other hand and held her in place, Larrin was surprised by his sudden controlling nature. "_No_! _Damnit Larrin_ you can't tell _anyone_! All it's gonna take is _one _person to tell the IOA about this and it's _over_… Not even Sam knows yet and I don't know whether or not I can tell her... they'll court martial me and _then_ I'd have to run off with you… and as much as I might enjoy that, I'd rather we stay here."

Feeling a bit threatened now, Larrin decided to play a bit to weasel her way out of this. "Ohh… we?"

Nodding with a smile, John pulled her closer. He'd just trusted her big time and now he had to make sure she stayed quiet. "Yeah… we."

The last time she was this close to John she'd ended up stunning him. Alas, neither was armed at the moment. "Ohhh… that?"

Pulling her waist a little closer, John put one arm around her shoulder. "Yeah… that." he drew her in and seeing that she wasn't resisting, kissed her in a gentle embrace.

Seeing her chance, Larrin wrapped her arms around John's waist and gave his wound a tiny squeeze. His sudden groan of pain broke the kiss and made him flinch. "Ohh… looks like you're still a little too banged up for that kind of… _discussion._"

Chuckling softly due in part to the pain in his side, John nodded. "I guess… so you're not going to tell you people…yet?"

Pulling away, Larrin shook her head despite the tinge of blush in her cheeks. "No… _I mean_… yeah… I won't tell them the whole story… but now I gotta figure some way to convince 'em to stay… at least until we can tell them about this."

Nodding, John watched as Larrin pulled away. "Alright, but the less people know the better… I'm hoping your people agree… otherwise we're _screwed_."

Larrin's devious smile as she walked away made John's hormones cry…

--------------------------------------


	4. Chapter 4

The Midway Bridge was gone, 7 of the gates were completely obliterated by the Mark 9 Gatebusters and there was absolutely no way it could be repaired in any quick amount of time. Not that the IOA was going to do it, they were too worried about any kind of Wraith or Asuran invasion to even contemplate rebuilding the bridge.

So now that Sam and John were talking to Mr. Woolsey while even more expedition members left for Earth… only 89 Earth Born Humans remained in Atlantis... the atmosphere was less than friendly. "I'm sorry Colonels… but the IOA has made it clear. There will be no evacuation of any non-expedition person through the Stargate. The possibility of Wraith Worshippers or Asuran Spies is simply too great, and the less the Wraith and Asurans know of Earth the better."

John was having trouble repressing his anger. But with Sam handling most of this, he had to remain silent and stew. "So what now Mr Woolsey? We have almost seven thousand people in Atlantis at the moment… and nowhere else to go. Daedalus can't possibly do supply runs enough to keep everyone alive… so what do you recommend?"

Woolsey's chin shifted just a bit, and he sighed softly. "The only recommendation the IOA can push forward… is for the people to be moved to the mainland of the planet you are on in the hopes that Atlantis can defend them against the Wraith and Asurans while giving them a chance at survival."

Everyone who heard it winced and felt the ire seep through their veins. John was the one to speak now as he needed to vent a bit of his rage. "Basically you mean kick them out of from under our shields, and hope that the Wraith don't lead the Replicators here?"

"Now Colonel this is not the ideal situation… but as you yourselves have put it we simply cannot continue to feed and medically treat these people. Especially since you are now much more isolated. The IOA has decided that the Atlantis Expedition is to halt all off-world activities not associated with city defense and any willing expedition members to await the arrival of a potential task force to be created."

Sam furrowed her brow, this was news to her. "Task Force? What are you talking about?"

Woolsey on screen seemed pleased with himself, almost as if he were recounting his own idea. "The Daedalus is undergoing the last part of its refit as we speak. We've repurposed the flight hangers of the latest 304 and upgraded its weaponry as well. Technical schematics have been sent to you. It will launch again in two days. Once there, you will begin to evacuate as many ancient technologies as you can using its expanded cargo hold. The hope is that with its updated weaponry, and larger cargo capacity, that we can hold onto the city long enough for a large enough task force of BC-304s to be stationed at Atlantis for city defense."

John turned his head to Sam and quietly asked. "How long would that take?"

Sam's impassive emphasized her voice. "Too long…" She looked back to the screen. "Mr Woolsey, we've already repelled one potential Wraith attack, How long would it take for this 'task force' to be sent here?"

"Barring any unforeseen dilemmas or setbacks, as well as counting on Jaffa support with the colonization aspect…"

At the mention of Colonization, John flinched hard. "_Colonization?_ You mind explaining that?"

"Of course Colonel, with the assistance of the Jaffa, we're hoping that by the time we're able to send the task force, the Wraith and Asurans will have worn each other down to such a degree that the Milky Way can send a larger expedition in order to…"

That was it, Sam couldn't believe her ears and neither could anyone within hearing distance. Everyone wanted to say something but John was the only one screaming. "Are you _kidding_ me!? You're seriously telling me the IOA is willing to watch this Galaxy _die_, and then just move in like _nothing happened!?"_

"Calm yourself Colonel… this is only one aspect of our plan to…"

Incensed as he was, nothing was going to stop John from venting his rage. "…_ignore_ all these people?! just sit back and watch as an entire galaxy _dies_? You're a _goddamned coward _Woolsey and you make me sick!"

"Control yourself Colonel Sheppard!"

Unwilling to listen to anymore of this, John turned and stormed off almost knocking Chuck off his chair. As he reached the end of the control room though, he let loose with a frustrated punch to the metal wall, denting the metal, but also leaving a bloody imprint as he tore his hand open again. Everyone was shocked at his rage, but more incensed with Woolsey to not agree. Sam turned back to Woolsey with a look of scorn in her eyes.

The Politician seemed offended, and his voice was calm despite the moment. "You will have a talk with him I suppose Colonel Carter? The IOA cannot risk having a loose cannon for a military comman…"

Sam had had enough too, and she still had lots of work to do to make sure people didn't panic anymore than they already were. "Blow it out your ass Woolsey!"

With a quick move, she shut the video linkup and motioned to Amelia to shut the gate down. The blue puddle quickly vanished, and calm was restored to what little degree was possible.

Nobody said a word as Sam stomped over to her office, unwilling to speak to anyone. The door slammed and the blinds were shut, though it wasn't likely that anyone would want to speak to her in the mood she was in.

-----------------------------------------

Daniel groaned softly as he took the canteen Ronon handed him. "I don't suppose there's a shaving kit in those emergency kits." He rubbed his chin pensitively. Ronon's shake of his head said no. "Yeah… didn't think so."

They'd been stranded for a week now, and they'd exhausted just about every conversation they could think of. Food wasn't a problem, but the monotony was killing them both and they'd gone from acquaintances to friends and back to some strange level of animosity from the way they just couldn't find anything to do.

That is until Daniel asked Ronon whether he'd come to Earth if all hell broke loose... and Ronon told him Sheppard's plan.

----------------------------------------

It had been a week and a half since the Midway Disaster, and the city was back to some semblance of order. The Travelers had stayed on thank god, and Sam knew she had John to thank for that. With the gate bridge gone, she was back to making monthly reports to the IOA that made her job considerably easier in that respect.

She'd spent the time going over potential plans expedition members set forth, she'd requested everyone try and think up something, to contribute to the mess of ideas in her own head.

So far none of them were plausible, and all suffered the same issue as staying on the planet. Both the Wraith and the Replicators could reach them no matter where they went.

Sam had worked herself ragged, trying to figure out some way of saving Atlantis and the seven thousand people occupying her towers. There were so many considerations that had to be solved... food, water, medical treatment, and even all the cultural differences between the refugees made daily life harder and harder. All this apart from the potential attack by Wraith or Asurans.

It was late in the evening when John walked into her office to deliver his latest report on security. Several riots had broken out, and the infirmaries had had a busy night with victims of assault, stabbings, and most of all stunner hits. John didn't know what he was going to suggest when he walked in, but it all left him when he saw Sam at her desk.

The Full Bird Colonel had passed out and lay sprawled on her desk, one arm acting as a pillow to her head, the other balancing her out. Her tablet beeped softly, a low battery warning. A soft snore came from her throat that John thought was cute, but seeing the lines of exhaustion on her face told him this wasn't a good scene.

A sigh left John's lips, and he knew the woman had exhausted every potential way out. John had felt the same as she must be feeling now... the sympathy was there and he felt for the woman. Telling Sam his plan was always a possibility, but he knew she was one that went by the rules and would more than likely be against it. But that still didn't stop his sympathy, and John kept his voice low as he walked around her desk and began to shake her shoulders. "Sam."

Nothing, the woman was passed out and not easily roused. John knew from experience that sleeping in such an odd position was hell the next day, and he shook her a little harder.

Now she stirred, and a soft groan left Sam's mouth as she woke from her exhaustion. "Hmm… _bacon!_" she swung her hands around defensively, then groaned softly realizing consciousness had returned.

John soothingly shushed her as he chuckled, and whispered to keep her calm. "You passed out Sam… come on…"

Raising her head up for a second like a groundhog, Sam decided that she'd had a better time unconscious than having to face what she'd been agonizing over and settled back down. "Ohh… _screw off... _can't you just let me sleep?"

Smirking, John pulled her up and set her back on her chair. Like it or not, Sam was awake now and rubbing her eyes to try and get back to some level of consciousness she could appreciate. "Sorry boss… don't think you'll like the backache you'll have tomorrow if I let you stay here."

Sam groaned irritably and leaned back in her chair. "What time is it?"

Not even checking his watch, John pulled Sam up out of the chair and held her in place as she blinked to get used to the light. "Time for you to go to bed… _for god's sake Sam_… how long have you been awake?" He noted with no small sense of sympathy her bloodshot eyes, the messy strands of errant hair, and the dark patches underneath her eyes showing her exhaustion.

The Base Commander wasn't all that keen on staying awake either. "I dunno.... day or two?… If you'd tell me the time I could tell you."

A scoff left John's lips, and he reached towards her face. "Yeah well you're going to bed and staying there till you've had 8 straight hours. You need it…" Sam noticed his hand approaching her face and pulled her head back defensively. John sputtered. "Hold still! You've got a…" Taking her face in his left hand, Sam held still as John plucked a paperclip that had gotten stuck to her cheek as she lay on the desk. He flicked it away and rubbed Sam's shoulder sympathetically. "Yeah… bed time."

Grouchy from being woken, Sam spit back as John led her out the door. "Well I _was_ asleep until _you _showed up!"

"Passing out on top of your tablet doesn't count."

It was a hard point to argue, and Sam simply stayed quiet as John walked her to the Transporter. Normally she'd tell him she was more than capable of finding her quarters, but right now more than anything she needed company. It was lonely at the top, and Sam was the only person on the base who knew just how bad the situation was getting.

They didn't talk anymore as they walked down the hallways though, John simply kept an arm around Sam's shoulders steadying her as she zombied down towards her quarters. It wasn't until they actually reached the doors that Sam felt a need… something she rarely felt for.

John didn't really notice that Sam was looking at him with a strange longing, and he simply opened her door and gently shoved her towards it. "8 hours, uninterrupted. That or I stun you... _again and again_."

Laughing at his sympathetic threat, Sam shook her head idly and remained at the doorway. She took a deep breath and finally looked up at him. "Hey…"

Furrowing his brow, John nodded. "Yeah?"

How could she put this? She was _Sam Carter_ dammit! Astrophysicist extraordinaire, Soldier Sam! The Ice Woman, The woman who'd blown a star up! How could she tell John that she needed to talk about all the shit that had happened and was weighing her down? It took several awkward moments before she finally sighed and closed her eyes. "You got any beer?"

Raising his eyebrows, John understood her lateral way of saying she wanted to talk. "Uhh… yeah… you uhh...?"

Nodding quickly, Sam replied. "_Yeah_!"

Another awkward few moments, and John motioned with his head. "Come on… I know a little place."

-----------------------------------------

John knew that Sam was one tough bi.. uhh... _woman_, one doesn't reach Full Bird Colonel without proving oneself over and over. But he _never_ would have imagined Sam as a heavy drinker. "Jesus… _take it easy_."

Sam finished downing the bottle of Molson and tossed it over her shoulder and into the ocean. She quickly pulled another out of John's little cooler and sipped on it. "I gotta make up for lost time…"

Seeing as she'd already had 3 bottles compared to his 1 and a half, John knew something was _very _wrong with her. Especially since they'd not been sitting at this balcony for more than 10 minutes and barely said a word. "Sam… what is it?"

Sighing harshly, Sam thought about what to say. The problem was anything she _could_ say would sound… _weak_. Like she wasn't capable of handling it. After a few contemplative seconds of thought, Sam simply took another sip and sighed again. "Your hand okay?"

John flexed his fist and regretted having vented his anger so childishly. Dr Keller had admonished him, but in the end he'd just cut open the same knuckles as he did the last time he was on Earth. "Sore… Keller says I fractured my metacarpal."

Smiling in mirth, Sam drew her knees up to her chin and shook her head idly. "Well that's what you get for punching a solid metal wall…!" A soft wince and Sam lowered her head. _"God I want to do that sometimes…"_

Taking a long sip from his beer, John could understand why Sam had asked him to come out here with booze of all things. "What's bothering you Sam?"

Scoffing loudly now, Sam shook her head. "Nothing… I'm just… worried."

John had to admit, Sam was a hell of a lot tougher than he'd given her credit for. "_Sam… _"

With a blood alcohol level that was rapidly rising, Sam had little tact left for assumptive phrases. She replied sharply. "_What?_"

Mildly annoyed, John rephrased. "Something's up... what's on your mind?"

Still frustrated, Sam shook her head... much harder than she had to given the circumstances. Her reply was terse. _"I told you_… nothing's bothering me… I'm just... worried about everything."

Rolling his eyes, John decided to be blunt. "Semantics? _Please..._ Sam, obviously something's bothering you… why else would we be sitting here on a secluded balcony drinking beer and not talking to each other?"

Feeling threatened, Sam turned away from him and took another sip. "Maybe I just wanted to get drunk… maybe I just want to sleep hard and this is the easiest way."

Seeing that obviously Sam was repressing a serious amount of worry, John relented aggressively. "Fine… let's change the subject. How's the weather in your office?"

Tersely, Sam replied with the hint of scorn. "Oh it's great ya know? Gets a little frosty sometimes when I have to deal with all this IOA _bullshit_ about relief funds being wasted."

Continuing the rude conversation, John spat back. "I can imagine, maybe i should tell them it was me who sent all that money in. Then they'll start bitching at _me_ and leave _you_ alone!"

Sam turned and kept her voice low and threatening. "Maybe you _should_! Maybe then you'll know how _hard_ it is to deal with it!"

"Well let's do that then! Maybe then the IOA'll know I'm not messing around about this!"

"_Oh what, and I am?!"_

They looked at each other with the intent to show scorn, but after a moment of looking each other in the face neither could hold it and both sighed heavily with regret. John rubbed the back of his head and felt horrible for pushing so hard. "Dammit… Sam… I'm... I... _goddamnit I'm sorry!_ It's just…" he looked up at her and lowered his voice. "I'm here to back you up… _no matter what._ And I can't do that if you _won't talk to me._"

Feeling just a little more tipsy, Sam finally felt loose enough to say what was on her mind. She rubbed her face and shook her head as ehe spoke softly. "_I'm sorry too_... just... god I'm just worried alright? I'm just worried about everything… I'm worried that we're gonna have to abandon the city… I'm worried that the Wraith or the Replicators or god knows who is gonna come and try and take it from us…" a moment of silence and her voice cracked just a tiny bit. _"I'm worried about Daniel and Ronon…"_

Seeing Sam suddenly recede into herself, John finally understood what was eating away at her… and why she'd want to keep it quiet. "…I'm worried about them too…"

Sam drew in a deep breath through her nose and rubbed her forehead. She was _not_ going to cry… she was _not_ going to cry! "I just… _god what kind of person am I?_ I'm more worried about my _friend_ then I am this whole…"

John had never seen Sam this distraught, it was obvious the woman was repressing a lot and for some strange reason, she was now drowning them in beer. "You're just human... we all are… I'm worried about them too… A lot more than I should be." He took a long sip out of bottle and emptied it. Following suit, he simply chucked it over his shoulder into the ocean. "Daedalus should be reaching them in a few days… I'm hoping they're okay."

Sam nodded softly, now rocking back and forth a bit. In her mind she quickly went over the calculations for how much she'd drunken, her weight, age, gender and did the math. From what it told her, she'd be relatively drunk soon. "God I hope so…" Sighing, Sam dropped her head onto her knees. "…I just wish none of this happened…"

"Yeah… me too."

There wasn't much else they could say, and Sam only had one last thing to ask… something that had been on her mind for awhile now. "So… when are you gonna tell me your backup plan?"

Feigning ignorance, John took a sip of his beer to camouflage his surprise. "Backup plan?"

Sam turned to him and gave him a knowing expression. Her words were mildly slurred. "_Jooohn_... You've never lied to me… at least not blatantly… _don't start now_."

Seeing that she was completely serious, John took a few seconds to himself. He knew Sam wanted to save Atlantis… but would she be willing to listen to _this_? "I… I don't know if I can tell you."

A few laughs from Sam had John worried. How resistant was Sam to beer that she'd gone from coherent but quiet, to chatty and aggressive now? "Oh? That bad huh? Well you might as well tell me because I know you're not going back to Earth."

Another surprising moment, So far only a few people knew of that and he trusted each to keep silent. Denying it was impossible now, as Sam plainly knew what she was talking about. "…What gave me away?"

Hearing a bottle break behind him, John suddenly realized that while he was looking away and drinking heavier, Sam had done the same and was on her sixth beer. How the woman didn't puke was a mystery to John. "Ohh… just things you said… things you did…" Sam smiled softly and shook her head idly. "…_our little date_."

Feeling the awkwardness coming up, John shifted mildly uncomfortable. "…What about it?"

Sam drew her legs closer to her body, was it getting colder? "You have any idea how long I kept asking myself why you asked me out?" John remained silent, now worried about what Sam could have deduced. "God I couldn't get it out of my head… _'why did John Sheppard decide to bend the rules and ask me out?'_" A few drunken giggles from Sam told John this was _not_ going to end well for him.

"Well… I wasn't lying… I really don't know when the next time I'll be on Earth."

Nodding, Sam scootched over a little closer to John. She wasn't drinking anymore but it was too late. 5 beers and change for a woman who rarely ever drank and Sam calculated her blood alcohol content was something like .12. "Yeah… that and your crazy shopping spree… _God I honestly thought you were crazy_... either that or everything I've heard about you was fake…"

Seeing plainly that Sam was being _extremely_ honest right now, John himself felt bold enough thanks to the beer to delve a little. "Oh…. What have you heard?"

Giggling a bit more, Sam scootched even closer. It really _was_ getting colder. "Ohh… you know... intergalactic player… a girl at every gate…" She giggled madly and finally sidled up next to him. "...for a while I was worried you thought I could be another one…"

John was a little taken aback by her forwardness, If he were a desperate man he'd be mightily confused over the fact that she had moved closer yet spoke of his supposed Casanova ways as if it were a bad thing. But feeling her shivering, John realized she was just cold and too drunk to care about awkwardness. He wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her arm to warm it up. John shook his head idly and groaned softly. "What do _you_ think?"

Sam wait a moment, and wondered that herself. "I… I don't know what to think." _And that scares me..._ It was unsaid... something Sam couldn't bring herself to say. She looked to the side and saw the slight surprise on John's face, he obviously wasn't expecting that answer. But Sam knew what she needed to figure out. "Do you trust me John?"

John gulped, and knew she was cutting away the layers of façade he kept. "Yeah…."

"Then tell me… _what do you have planned_?"

Their gaze locked for a moment, and then John turned away as he sighed. "It's not…_according_ to the rules…"

Sam scoffed softly and bit her lips. "What... You think I'd _court-martial_ you for _planning_ something?"

John scoffed back and shrugged, he might as well get it over with. "You haven't heard the plan."

Sam drew in a long breath through her nose and decided to confide in him. "You know… none of us would be alive right now if I hadn't broken the rules once."

Furrowing his brow, John wondered what she was talking about. "Say what?"

Giggling more, Sam shook her head and remembered 'Captain Carter'. "About a year after we started the SGC, a Goa'uld named Apophis was about to attack Earth... Dr Jackson had seen it happen in an alternate reality and knew we stood no chance of defending against him… so…" a moment to breath in. and Sam continued. "We were desperate… the NID had shut the SGC down and… and we broke the rules... we launched a first strike through the gate…" Sam smiled, remembering how hard it had been to come to that decision. "Hardest thing I've done... If we hadn't gone through and sabotaged those ships… Earth would have fallen… none of us would probably be alive right now." She turned back to John and whispered. "_Tell me_ John. I'm _desperate_ to save this city and all I've got now is whatever you've got planned."

It was amazing to hear that coming from her. John had known Sam was a stickler for the rules and to hear her tell that story… especially since she could hardly keep still from the alcohol in her veins. "… Alright… alright..." John looked at Sam and could see that she was paying complete attention, even as she drunkenly rocked back and forth. "Radek found something…. a project the Ancients were working on. Don't even bother asking me about the math cuz it's way over my head… but from what he tells me, it's a type of instantaneous wormhole drive. Sort of like a giant stargate for the whole city that can cover the distance between galaxies in a fraction of the time Hyperspace would."

Sam scrunched her face slightly, even as she heard John's whispers the math was going through her head. "Uhh… wow."

John nodded as he chuckled. "Yeah… I couldn't believe it either… but he's been going over it with Mila and they both agree, they can get it to work. It's just…"

Already Sam knew what the problem was, her scientific mind pushing through the haze of alcohol. "Too much power."

"Yeah… so… I talked to Larrin… and if we work together… Daedalus along with a few Traveler ships might be able to disable one of those Aurora wolfpacks so we can steal their ZPMs."

It was a bold plan, and certainly Sam could see why he'd kept it secret. "Problem…! can't go back to Milky Way…" She clenched her jaw at the thought as she shook her head drunkenly. "Arrest us as soon as we go through the gate…" Looking at John's staunch expression, she knew the answer. "_You're not going to the Milky Way_…"

Shaking his head softly, John sighed. "Before this bridge thing... yeah i was hoping the Milky Way would be okay, _but now_? Radek says there's a list of Galaxies in the database… he's going through them looking for one we can go to where the no one can find us… not the Wraith, not the Asurans… not even the IOA... the wormhole drive has a ridiculous potential range so... we've got options."

Finally realizing the implication of what John was saying, Sam gulped. "That's… wow." It was a _very_ hard decision to make, and Sam wanted to tell herself that she'd be willing to go through with it… that she could betray what she'd sworn to in defense of these people… but Sam just didn't know what she would do at this point. "I… I need...I need time... time to think…" She certainly did, as even after hearing John's plan, there were many holes she could see in it... if she could even bring herself to agree with it.

That wasn't what worried her the most though, and John could tell right away. "Sam..._they'll be okay_… Come on…! Daniel Jackson and Ronon? It's hard enough to kill Ronon… from what I hear Daniel's got some kind of horseshoe up his ass."

Sam couldn't help it and she burst out laughing, John quickly joined her and held her with one arm. But soon he realized that Sam's laughs weren't just out of mirth. The woman obviously wanted to vent, and the laughs were the closest thing to a release valve she had that wouldn't... appear weak. But she wouldn't break... John wasn't sure Sam would _ever_ break.

She moved closer and pulled his arm around her more tightly, their faces mere inches away "_Oh god…_ I can't lose him John… I just… I can't…"

John could see that she wasn't going to cry, not even a sob was leaving her lips as she breathed heavily still laughing very softly. John could tell that Sam Carter did _not_ cry... not by a long shot. But he could see the emotion behind her eyes and wondered just how much it would take to break that highly trained wall of repression. He couldn't really think of what to say, so he just squeezed her a little tighter.

For that matter, Sam pulled John into a hug, feeling the need for some kind of comfort. Her voice barely a whisper "He's my best friend John… I… I don't… I _can't_ lose him…"

Hugging her back simply, seeing that even drunk Sam was just too tough to let any inner emotion visible. It was something he could respect. John held her still for a few moments, then whispered back. "Come on… you need to get to bed."

Sam nodded and got up with him, but before he could move she held him back. "Wait… wait... just give me a second..." Sam rubbed her face, and quickly finger combed her hair that had come loose.

John couldn't help but smile at Sam's obvious care for her appearance. "Yeah…"

A few seconds passed, and Sam finally nodded, John kept an arm around her as they walked, and it wasn't long before Sam began to speak again. "John… I-I…" A moment of hesitation came to her, and she walked dazily where John led her. John for that matter couldn't help but be reminded of drunken nights in bars with women in much the same condition as Sam was… and mentally chastise himself for thinking it. Sam was so much more than just some one night stand.

It was a quick walk back to her quarters, and John opened them again ready to shove her in. "Alright… go to sleep you little insane drunken angel."

Sam giggled drunkenly at his joke and instantly called him out on the reference. "Hey! I _love_ Futurama!"

A shrug, and John shook his head a bit. "I might have some of the DVDs…" Wanting to reassure Sam just a little more though, he sighed softly. "Go to sleep Sam…. we've got alot of work to do... "

Nodding, Sam pulled away for a moment, but then turned back and bowed her head as she rubbed her forehead. "I _can't_ lose him… He's my best friend and…" She stopped, still breathing hard and rocking from side to side.

John nodded and sighed, his hand rubbing the scab along his knuckles. "I know… he's fine Sam… they both are."

Sam sighed softly and pulled herself into a hug with John. She then dropped her head onto John's shoulder. It had been so long since she'd been this close to anyone… least of all someone she could trust implicitly. "Thank you John… I uhh…" Sam pushed off him now, trying not to blush at feeling the heat in both her body and his. "We should be getting to bed…" Seeing John's eyes go wide Sam realized the unintended meaning. "_Uhh..! I mean…!_"

Laughing at her drunken rambling, John gave Sam a playful shove. "Go to sleep... we can talk later."

Feeling embarrassed, Sam rubbed her face and waved him off grumpily as she mumbled. "Yeah yeah… like you're not tired either..."

It was quite funny, and John couldn't help but ponder to himself whether she'd just drunkenly made a grammatical mistake, or a Freudian slip. Chasing those thoughts out of his head, John realized that yeah... despite his constant denial, he _was_ sort of a Casanova... if unintended.

--------------------------------------------

"The Battlegroup is approaching orbital position, bombardment pattern laid in."

The Asuran at the helm nodded and input the attack code into his arm console. "Move into attack formation and commence purging. Target villages and…"

An alarm began to ring, and the sensor officer called it out. "Electrical disturbance detected!"

The crew turned their attention to what looked like an electrical storm flying across the orbit. "Analysis."

The sensor officer was still working on it as the storm drew nearer. "No natural cause determined, sensors report it is an artificial storm."

"Raise shields… order the group to raise shields as well."

Acknowledgment, and now curiosity as the storm drew closer. "Still no cause?"

"No sir… it is approaching…"

The Storm washed over the first Aurora, and to everyone's surprise the lighting completely ignored the Battleship's shields and tore the ship apart like wet tissue. The Asuran commander got to his feet and was about to order a retreat when the storm accelerated and the turned the other two Aurora's to dust.

It wasn't before the ships could send out a distress call though, telling the remaining Aurora's to avoid this planet. The planet named Proculus.


End file.
